^p“As I swore in my wrath,

‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

^r“They shall not enter my rest.”

^t“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts.”

1  The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;

he ^yturns it wherever he will.

2  ^zEvery way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the Lord ^aweighs the heart.

3  ^bTo do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

4  ^cHaughty eyes and a proud heart,

^dthe lamp¹ of the wicked, are sin.

5  The plans of ^ethe diligent lead surely to abundance,

but everyone who is ^fhasty comes ^gonly to poverty.

6  ^hThe getting of treasures by a lying tongue

is a ⁱfleeting ^jvapor and a ^ksnare of death.²

7  The violence of the wicked will ^lsweep them away,

because they refuse to do what is just.

8  The way of the guilty ^mis crooked,

but the conduct of the pure is upright.

9  It is ⁿbetter to live in a corner of the housetop

than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

10  The soul of the wicked desires evil;

his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

11  When ^oa scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;

when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.

12  The Righteous One ^pobserves the house of the wicked;

he throws the wicked down to ruin.

13  ^qWhoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor

will himself call out and not be answered.

14  ^rA gift in secret averts anger,

and a concealed bribe,³ strong wrath.

15  When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous

^sbut terror to evildoers.

16  One who wanders from the way of good sense

^twill rest in the assembly of the dead.

“How the oppressor has ceased,

^vthe insolent fury² ceased!

5  The Lord has broken the ^wstaff of the wicked,

the ^wscepter of rulers,

6  ^xthat struck the peoples in wrath

with unceasing blows,

that ruled the nations in anger

with unrelenting persecution.

7  The whole earth is at rest and quiet;

^ythey break forth into singing.

8  ^zaThe cypresses rejoice at you,

^bthe cedars of Lebanon, saying,

‘Since you were laid low,

no woodcutter comes up against us.’

9  Sheol beneath is stirred up

to meet you when you come;

it rouses the shades to greet you,

all who were leaders of the earth;

it raises from their thrones

all who were kings of the nations.

10  ^cAll of them will answer

and say to you:

‘You too have become as weak as we!

You have become like us!’

11  Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,

the sound of your harps;

maggots are laid as a bed beneath you,

and worms are your covers.

12  “How ^dyou are fallen from heaven,

O Day Star, ^eson of Dawn!

How you are cut down to the ground,

you who laid the nations low!

13  You said in your heart,

^f‘I will ascend to heaven;

above the stars of God

^gI will set my throne on high;

I will sit on the mount of assembly

in the far reaches of the north;³

14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

15  ^hBut you are brought down to Sheol,

to the far reaches of the pit.

16  Those who see you will stare at you

and ponder over you:

‘Is this ⁱthe man who made the earth tremble,

who shook kingdoms,

17  who made the world like a desert

and overthrew its cities,

^jwho did not let his prisoners go home?’

18  All the kings of the nations lie in glory,

each in his own tomb;⁴

19  but you are cast out, away from your grave,

like a loathed branch,

^kclothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword,

who go down to the stones of the pit,

like a dead body trampled underfoot.

20  You will not be joined with them in burial,

because you have destroyed your land,

you have slain your people.

“May ^lthe offspring of evildoers

nevermore be named!

21  Prepare slaughter for his sons

^mbecause of the guilt of their fathers,

lest they rise and possess the earth,

and fill the face of the world with cities.”

24  The Lord of hosts has sworn:

^q“As I have planned,

so shall it be,

and as I have purposed,

so shall it stand,

25  that ^rI will break the Assyrian in my land,

and on my mountains trample him underfoot;

and ^shis yoke shall depart from them,

and ^shis burden from their shoulder.”

26  This is the purpose that is purposed

concerning the whole earth,

and this is ^tthe hand that is stretched out

over all the nations.

27  ^uFor the Lord of hosts has purposed,

and who will annul it?

^tHis hand is stretched out,

and who will turn it back?

29  Rejoice not, ^xO Philistia, all of you,

that ^ythe rod that struck you is broken,

for from the serpent’s root will come forth an adder,

and its fruit will be a ^zflying fiery serpent.

30  And the firstborn of ^athe poor will graze,

and ^athe needy lie down in safety;

but I will kill your root with famine,

and your remnant it will slay.

31  ^bWail, O ^cgate; cry out, O city;

melt in fear, ^xO Philistia, all of you!

^dFor smoke comes out of the north,

and there is no straggler in his ranks.

32  What will one answer the messengers of the nation?

^e“The Lord has founded Zion,

and in her the afflicted of his people find refuge.”

Because ^gAr of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone;

because ^hKir of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone.

2  He has gone up to the temple,⁶ and to ⁱDibon,

to the high places⁷ to weep;

over ^jNebo and over ⁱMedeba

Moab ^kwails.

On every head is ^lbaldness;

every beard is shorn;

3  in the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the housetops and in the squares

everyone wails and melts in tears.

4  ^mHeshbon and ^mElealeh cry out;

their voice is heard as far as ⁿJahaz;

therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

his soul trembles.

5  My heart cries out for Moab;

her fugitives flee to Zoar,

to ⁿEglath-shelishiyah.

For at the ^oascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to ^oHoronaim

they raise a cry of destruction;

6  the waters of ^pNimrim

are a desolation;

the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,

the greenery is no more.

7  ^qTherefore the abundance they have gained

and what they have laid up

they carry away

over the Brook of the Willows.

8  For a cry has gone

around the land of Moab;

her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.

9  For the waters of ^rDibon⁸ are full of blood;

for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

^sa lion for those of Moab who escape,

for the remnant of the land.

1  ^tSend the lamb to the ruler of the land,

from ^uSela, by way of the desert,

to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2  Like fleeing birds,

like a scattered nest,

so are the daughters of Moab

at ^vthe fords of the Arnon.

3  “Give counsel;

grant justice;

^wmake your shade like night

at the height of noon;

shelter the outcasts;

do not reveal the fugitive;

4  let ^xthe outcasts of Moab

sojourn among you;

be a shelter to them⁹

from the destroyer.

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

5  ^ythen a throne will be established in steadfast love,

and on it will sit in faithfulness

in the tent of David

one who judges and seeks justice

and is swift to do righteousness.”

6  ^zWe have heard of the pride of Moab—

how proud he is!—

^aof his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

in his idle boasting he is not right.

7  Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,

^blet everyone wail.

Mourn, utterly stricken,

for the ^craisin cakes of ^dKir-hareseth.

8  For the fields of Heshbon languish,

and ^ethe vine of Sibmah;

the lords of the nations

have struck down its branches,

which reached to Jazer

and strayed to the desert;

its shoots spread abroad

and passed over the sea.

9  Therefore ^fI weep with ^ethe weeping of Jazer

for the vine of Sibmah;

I drench you with my tears,

O Heshbon and Elealeh;

for over ^gyour summer fruit and your harvest

the shout has ceased.

10  ^hAnd joy and gladness are taken away from ⁱthe fruitful field,

and in the vineyards no ^jsongs are sung,

no cheers are raised;

no ^ktreader treads out wine ^lin the presses;

I have put an end to the shouting.

11  Therefore ^mmy inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,

and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.